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How To Automate The Customer Journey With Omnichannel Marketing
Nurturing new visitors and turning them into customers is an essential skill for any business owner. Omni-channel marketing allows business owners to realize this goal, and an all-in-one ecommerce and retail solution such as Centrix Cloud Services will help you harness the power of omni-channel marketing.
The heart of our solution lies in a comprehensive 360 customer view automation. Marketing automation is a natural next step to an effective omni-channel marketing strategy.
A common challenge amongst business owners is tailoring messages to each customer on each channel manually. Each customer has different objectives and desires, and speaking to them all in a single group can send mixed messaging. Omni-channel technology addresses this issue.
The key is in a unique customer list segmentation. By breaking down your customers into different types of shoppers, we can write messages that will be the most relevant to them at different stages of their customer journey. This journey typically falls into 5 main stages: visitor, subscriber, shopper, buyer and repeat buyer.
Visitor stage
Less than 3% of website visits end in conversion. While that might seem bleak, an all-in-one ecommerce and retail solution can present smooth transitions across multiple stages of the customer journey. By automating a few different features of your site, Centrix Cloud Services can capture the customer’s information and create a better experience. The main channel that your use in this case is a sign up form directly from your own site: basic sign up forms, exit-intent or time-based popups, animated sign up forms, and landing pages.
Asking for a first name leads to better personalization, an email address is standard, and a phone number lets us send SMS campaigns. Asking for each of these details will enhance the effectiveness of your all-in-one ecommerce and retail solution. A great incentive for signing up, like a discount or free shipping helps drive popups. This works particularly well in helping us determine the customer’s level of interest.
If a customer hasn’t signed up, we can always use Google and Facebook retargeting ads to remind them of Your products and perhaps draw them back in.
Subscriber stage
When a customer does sign up, depending on the information collected from that subscriber, we can begin sending campaigns across various channels as part of our welcome series automation.
74.4% of customers expect a welcome email when they subscribe to a website. These messages are particularly effective: they earn a 42.21% open rate on average. Frequently communicate with your customer base so they become familiar with your brand. Even the most excited customers can turn into cold leads if you do not send them at least one email per week.
Push Notifications
If your customer has opted in for push notifications, we can send their discount code this way and follow up via email. Push notifications have become paramount assets for many brands’ omni-channel marketing strategies. More customers actively shop and browse through content on their mobile devices. Enabling push notifications allows you to capitalize on this emerging trend.
SMS
If we’ve collected a phone number, it’s possible to send the discount or free shipping code directly to their phones. Combine this with a welcome email by following up the SMS with an email about different products that might interest the customer. Smartphone users open almost every text that comes their way. In fact, 97% of text messages get read within the first 15 minutes of delivery.
Retargeting Ads
Keep your customer on the hook if they’re not engaging with email, SMS, and push notifications. Some customers will forget to perform an action and just need a nudge. Retargeting ads provide that reminder to your customers.
A great welcome series usually contains three messages or so, regardless of the channels involved. Using Cetrix-Hubspot automation, we can create a segment for customers who have signed up but never purchased and tailor your communication around this stage of the customer journey.
Writing targeted messages with your customer’s stage in mind will boost your conversion rates and help grow your business.
Shopper stage
Each touchpoint a customer has with your brand moves them closer to conversion. Every time they see your brand name or one of the products, they become more familiar and begin thinking more about purchasing. Each email, push notification, and published piece of content go a long way in staying on top of the customer’s mind.
Browse Abandonment
In the shopping phase, a customer might revisit the site during welcome messages or via retargeting ads. They might browse for a bit, but ultimately leave without purchasing.
If they do so, automation can trigger so they enter into a browse abandonment segment.
In this segment, we can automate our messages with product recommendations based on the categories your customers browsed:
Email is good for browse abandonment as it’s a bit of a softer approach. The last thing we want to do is to bombard the customer with promotional messages from all channels. This would overwhelm the customer and likely turn them off from our brand. Rushing to the sale is one of the best ways to lose a sale.
Using our browse abandonment email series to offer similar products from the same category is a good approach. We will add reviews from other customers who have purchased some of these products. We want social proof to help build your customer’s trust in the brand. From here, follow up with recommendations from this category in Google and Facebook retargeting ads.
Social proof is a vital element of any omni-channel marketing strategy. It gives customers a better understand of how you can help with their needs and wants. If you need social proof for your business, consider these strategies to boost your social proof.
Cart Abandonment
If for example your customer adds products to their cart, we can go a little further in our Omni-channel automation. These customers would be added to a separate segment with more aggressive messages. More aggressive doesn’t mean overly promotional in this case. We can set up an automation sequence to target cart abandonment. While many think about this in terms of email automation, it’s possible to do more.
Facebook Messenger / SMS / push notifications
If a customer has opted in, we will send an abandoned cart reminder with a tone of urgency and support an hour after the customer has left Your site. Capabilities with these messaging platforms is an important element of an all-in-one ecommerce and retail solution.
Using a supportive tone, we will send a reminder email 12 hours after the cart was abandoned. Sending an email soon after cart abandonment reminds the customer of their pending purchase. This soft reminder will increase the likelihood of a customer following through with their order rather than leaving their cart abandoned.
SMS
We will send a discount code for the product or offer free shipping to draw the customer back in. If, for example, the customer still doesn’t come back to complete the purchase, we can set up a 1 week delay and start using retargeting ads for that particular product.
This kind of sequence is effective in bringing customers back to complete the purchase, especially with the sky high open rates on text messages. You can use SMS marketing to drive sales to your products.
Customer Stage
When the customer finally completes a purchase, our job is far from over. This stage determines if a customer will become a top source of revenue or never come back again. Continuing to nurture the relationship with existing customers increases the odds of them sticking around and becoming repeat customers.
There are a few kinds of messages we’ll need to automate at this point. In Cetrix Omni- channel marketing automation, the best practice is to let the customer choose how they receive updates on their order and shipping. Some customers may prefer email, others may prefer SMS, Facebook Messenger, push notifications, etc.
Regardless of the channel, always include a link back to your store or their account so they can view the update in detail. That way, customers continue to engage with your store and can view other products. They may not buy right away, but allowing customers to see your platform an additional time makes them more familiar with your brand.
Order Confirmation & Shipping Notifications
Using the channel, the customer has chosen for the initial update: whether it’s SMS or push notifications, we will send the customer an immediate update that you have received their order and that everything is being processed. As mentioned, always include a link back to your store and follow up with an email that details the whole order. Communicating every step of the process with customers is vital, regardless of whether the customer is a first-timer or a returning customer.
No one loves your business more than repeat customers. And there’s no one your team should love more either. Most online businesses count 40% of their income from repeat buyers, and Cetrix will keep them around with its customized omni-channel automation. After the product has been received and all is well, you still have opportunities to bring that customer back in several different ways.
Order Follow Up
After the products have reached the customer, we will wait about a week or so and send out a message requesting a review. This weeklong delay provides enough time for the customer to use the product or wait for the product to arrive in the event it arrives later than anticipated. Rushing to request a review can result in negative feedback which will hurt social proof.
We will send an email asking for a review showing how others have reviewed the products. Most customers will happily leave a review but are not sure where to leave their thoughts. We will provide an easy link directly to the review section so the customer doesn’t have to look for it.
SMS
If a customer hasn’t responded to the email, our automation will follow up a week later with an SMS offering some kind of incentive to review the product. We will also use Facebook Messenger to ask for a Facebook review. We know each customers has different communication preferences which is why we invite them to join the conversation through multiple mediums. Messaging across these touch points increases the likelihood of customers leaving reviews.
Cross Selling
In emails following the feedback automation, we will always recommend products that would pair nicely with what your customer recently purchased. This feature enables a customized customer experience that will convert better than a generic email.
You can even offer an incentive in the confirmation emails to stimulate the purchase. If there is a loyalty or rewards program in place, it will guarantee a better conversion opportunity. Show the customer how many points they have earned, and what it could get them on the recommended product. Your team can also follow up with an SMS or push notification for points and rewards updates.
Reactivation
If the customer hasn’t purchased again after a long time, a reactivation automation series can be automatically triggered. We will use email, SMS, push notifications, or any other channel the customer has opted-in for. If nothing else, it re-engages the customer: reactivation emails average a 40% open rate. Regardless, our next goal from here is moving them back into the customer phase where they begin browsing your store, showing their intent to purchase.
The customer journey is a delicate process. Tailored messaging that addresses each step of the journey will help create a smooth experience where prospects turn into customers. Once you get the customer, continue engaging with them so they come back again and again. Many businesses make the bulk of their revenue from a small percentage of repeat customers. Omni-channel marketing combined with an all-in-one eCommerce and retail solution can help you achieve this reality for your business.
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